Jackson is a
townThe New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...
in
Carroll County-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,666 people, 18,351 households, and 12,313 families residing in the county. The population density was 18/km² . There were 34,750 housing units at an average density of 14/km²...
,
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 816 at the 2010 census. Jackson is an elegant resort area in the
White MountainsThe White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
. Parts of the
White Mountain National ForestThe White Mountain National Forest is a federally-managed forest contained within the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. It was established in 1918 as a result of the Weeks Act of 1911; federal acquisition of land had already begun in 1914. It has a total area of...
are in the west, north and east. Jackson has many beautiful hotels and B&B's including the Carter Notch Inn, The Inn at Jackson, the Eagle Mountain Hotel and the Wildcat Tavern.
History
Once consisting of several large land grants by
ColonialIn politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
Governor
John WentworthSir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...
, the town was first named New Madbury, after the seacoast town of
MadburyMadbury is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,771 at the 2010 census.-History:Madbury was originally a part of Dover called Barbadoes, after the West Indies island of Barbados with which settlers conducted trade, sending wood and lumber in exchange for...
. In 1772, a road was built through
Pinkham NotchPinkham Notch is a mountain pass in the White Mountains of north-central New Hampshire, United States. The notch is a result of extensive erosion by the Laurentide ice sheet during the Wisconsinian ice age. Pinkham Notch was eroded into a glacial U-shaped valley whose walls are formed by the...
, and the area was first settled in 1778 by Benjamin Copp and his family. In 1800, the community was renamed in honor of President
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, who was then in office. The name Adams stuck until the town was incorporated in 1829, when
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, the hero of the
Battle of New OrleansThe Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the...
, was inaugurated president. Governor
Benjamin PierceBenjamin Pierce was an American Democratic-Republican politician. He served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1827 to 1828 and from 1829 to 1830.-Biography:...
, a staunch backer of President Jackson, was influential in changing the name to Jackson. Only one vote was cast against the switch.
In 1847, artists of the
White Mountain SchoolWhite Mountain art is the body of work created during the 19th century by over four hundred artists who painted landscape scenes of the White Mountains of New Hampshire in order to promote the region and, consequently, sell their works of art....
began arriving in Jackson to paint the scenic beauty of the White Mountains. Others would follow, and in 1858, Joshua B. Trickey opened the Jackson Falls House. The Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad began service to Glen station at nearby
BartlettBartlett is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,788 at the 2010 census. Bartlett includes the villages of Glen, Lower Bartlett and Intervale. It is set in the White Mountains, surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest...
in the early 1870s, and several hotels were built to accommodate a growing infusion of tourists. Thorn Mountain House, built by Trickey in 1869, would evolve during the 1880s into Wentworth Hall, still in business today. Designed as a grouping of cottages around a main service building, the hotel included such amenities as a casino, built in 1886, and a hydroelectric plant, built in the 1890s. By the 1920s, 40 trains a day delivered passengers to Jackson.
The increasing use of
automobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s, however, reduced travel by
trainA train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
, as vacationers could venture beyond the limits of rail service. Consequently, some grand 19th century hotels lost patrons and closed, although the town itself would never lose popularity. Jackson is one of the region's most picturesque villages, famous in part for Jackson Falls and Jackson X-C, a 150+ kilometer
cross-country skiingCross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
trail system, rated one of the best in the world.
Wildcat MountainWildcat Mountain is a mountain located in Coos County, northern New Hampshire, United States. The mountain is part of the Carter-Moriah Range of the White Mountains, on the east side of Pinkham Notch...
, with an unsurpassed view of
Mount WashingtonMount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at , famous for dangerously erratic weather. For 76 years, a weather observatory on the summit held the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth's surface, , on the afternoon of April 12, 1934...
, is a favorite
alpine skiingAlpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
destination. Jackson is perhaps best known for its red
covered bridgeA covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...
, built in 1876, one of the most photographed in the state.
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 66.9 square miles (173.3 km²), of which 0.01% is water. Jackson is drained by the Ellis River and Wildcat Brook. The highest point in Jackson is 3870 feet (1,179.6 m) above
sea levelMean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
on Wildcat Ridge, at the northern boundary of town. The ridge continues to rise north of town to the summit of
Wildcat MountainWildcat Mountain is a mountain located in Coos County, northern New Hampshire, United States. The mountain is part of the Carter-Moriah Range of the White Mountains, on the east side of Pinkham Notch...
—4422 ft (1,347.8 m)—in the neighboring township of
Bean's PurchaseBean's Purchase is a township in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. In New Hampshire, locations, grants, townships , and purchases are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited self-government .-Geography:According to the United States Census...
. Jackson lies fully within the
Saco RiverThe Saco River is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Saco Bay, from its source. It supplies drinking water to roughly 250,000...
watershedA drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
.
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 835 people, 377 households, and 240 families residing in the town. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 12.5 people per square mile (4.8/km²). There were 910 housing units at an average density of 13.6 per square mile (5.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.28% White, 0.24% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, and 0.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.12% of the population.
There were 377 households out of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the town the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 2.2% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $49,583, and the median income for a family was $59,327. Males had a median income of $32,813 versus $26,667 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $25,718. About 6.1% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
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